In March 2000, a suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education center in Tokyo, Japan from the Auschwitz museum in Germany. Fumiko Ishioka, the center's curator, was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner: "Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (the German word for orphan)." Children visiting the center asked: who was Hana Brady? What happened to her? Inspired by their curiosity and her own need to know, Fumiko began a year of detective work, scouring the world for clues. Her search led her from present-day Japan, Europe and North America back to 1938 Czechoslovakia to learn the story of Hana Brady, a fun-loving child with wonderful parents, a protective big brother, and a passion for ice skating, their happy life turned upside down by the invasion of the Nazis.

Karen Levine is a prizewinning producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio. Karen has won awards for her radio work, including two Peabody Awards - the Oscars of radio. She originally produced Hana’s Suitcase as a radio documentary before making it into a book. Though she travels widely to talk about the book, she makes her home in Toronto with her partner and her son.

Karen Levine's profile page

• Winner, Ontario Library Association's Ultimate Silver Birch Book
• Commended, Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award
• Winner, Yad Vashem Prize for Children's Holocaust Literature
• Winner, British Columbia Library Association – Red Cedar Award (Non-fiction)
• Winner, Skipping Stones Honor Award
• Commended, IRA Children’s Book Award, Notable Book Intermediate Non-fiction
• Commended, American Library Association's Notable Children's Books for Middle Readers
• Winner, Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award (Non-fiction)
• Commended, IRA Notable Book for a Global Society
• Short-listed, Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media Award
• Commended, IRA Teachers’ Choices
• Winner, Rocky Mountain Book Award: Alberta Children’s Choice
• Winner, Great Lakes Great Books Award
• Commended, IBBY-Canada Honour List
• Winner, UNICEF Paolo Ungari Literary Award
• Commended, Cooperative Children's Book Centre Choices
• Short-listed, Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Non-fiction
• Winner, White Ravens Award, International Children's Digital Library
• Winner, Canadian National Institute of the Blind – Torgi Literary Award
• Winner, National Chapter Of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award
• Winner, Ontario Library Association - Golden Oak Award
• Winner, Information Book Award
• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre's Our Choice Annual, Starred Selection
• Winner, Canadian Library Association "Book of the Year for Children"
• Winner, Jewish Book Council Award
• Short-listed, Ontario Library Association – Silver Birch Award (Non-fiction)
• Commended, Canadian Jewish Book Awards - Issac Frischwasser Memorial Award in Children’s Literature
• Commended, Quill & Quire Best Books of 2002
• Commended, Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award – A Notable Book for Older Readers
• Short-listed, Governor General’s Awards – Children’s Literature, Text
• Commended, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction – Honour Book

"Written in deceptively simple language, capable of pleasing children and adults, Hana’s Suitcase is an extraordinarily powerful book."

The Age

"Magic stems from a true story. Some of the connections forged amidst the most seemingly chaotic and unconnected events make for sagas that only happen in real life. The story of Hana’s Suitcase is such a saga. Few story tellers could weave the tangled webs of Hana’s Suitcase and achieve a believable plot – yet this take, linking people of three continents during a period of 70 years, defies fairy tales – it is pure magic, albeit born of sheer, absolute evil."

Weekender

"When a suitcase bearing the name of Hana Brady arrives at a Holocaust education centre in Tokyo, curator Fumiko Ishioka becomes obsessed with discovering the story of the young orphan who once owned the suitcase. The resulting search for information about Hana, her life, and her family makes for gripping reading in this true story. Part detective story, part historical narrative, and part tribute to Hana and the other children whose lives were ended by the Nazis, this is a beautiful, sad, and deeply respectful book of determinations, healing and closure."

Island Parent

"Part of the difficulty for today’s children reading about the Holocaust is that, for most of them, it was another place, another time, and therefore another world — remote and unreal. The other problem, of course, is that it is an overwhelmingly tragic story. However, this book deftly and imaginatively overcomes these difficulties. It brings the story into the present, it makes Hana’s world as familiar as our own, and it tells the uplifting story of how the details of her life were uncovered by a determined Japanese woman."

Melbourne's Child

"This remarkable, true story allows the young reader to understand the impact of the Holocaust on families and individuals, and to realize that each person has the capability of making a difference. Beautifully written."

The Canadian Jewish News

"I found this book special. I enjoyed seeing the photos and pictures that Hana had drawn. To me Hana was a girl like any other except she was born into an era where being Jewish could change your life. Hana’s Suitcase is an emotional story about a young girl’s hopes, dreams and tragedies."

Townsville Bulletin General News